A Celebration of The Art of Design: Jane Davis Doggett at The Arts Company

The Tennessee State Museum organized a retrospective exhibit of Jane Davis Doggett's artwork last fall, which has since traveled to Yale University Art Gallery, where its stay has been extended through July 11, 2010. Ms. Doggett, a Nashville native, was a distinguished graduate both from Newcomb College and then the Yale University of Art and Architecture in the 1950's. Her prime artistic mentor at Yale was Joself Albers, whose groundbreaking books-- The Interaction of Color and Homage to the Square are considered landmark works in modern art.

Concord Installation

She learned her lessons from Albers as well as from other mentors including Louis Kahn and Alvis Eisenman, and then began to blaze her own trails. She is now known by her artistic peers as a pioneer in wayfinding graphics, designing signage for some 40 international airports, among other achievements in her field of design art. She has singularly been instrumental in bringing the primary concepts of modern design-- initiated by the influential Bauhaus school of thought in the 1920's--into the practical world of large public spaces.

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered

In the past decade, she has created her own new approach to combining art, philosophy, and literature in creating affordable contemporary artwork conceived and produced through the latest technologies and materials of the computer and internet mediums of the 21st century.

Ms. Doggett's exhibit opening at The Arts Company May 1st is focused on her recent series of signed, limited-edition wall panels and prints based on selections from proverbs and various cultures, rethinking literary and philosophical ideas in her own visual idiom of graphic design. The panels and prints have been developed by Ms. Doggett to make affordable designs of the highest quality available to the public, using the latest printing technologies and papers, to assure a long life for her visual interpretations of philosophical precepts of cultures of the world. Her visual interpretation of each line in the 23rd Psalm in a series of 12 graphic panels is a case in point.

23rd Psalm

She labels this new work IconoChrome Images, and notes that these images are graphic statements that form a language on their own. They are not illustrations. Each design is based on a combination of iconic shapes and bold colors that present a simple visual way of communicating ideas familiar to lots of people in a fresh new way.




















Make it a point to see the array of Jane Davis Doggett's compelling artwork that speaks in color and form to the viewer. You can meet Ms. Doggett personally on Friday and Saturday nights (April 30 / May 1) at The Arts Company as part of "A Celebration of the Art of Design." It's an encounter that will connect you directly with the world of modern art, how it works and how it makes meaning. You can take the opportunity to put Ms. Doggett's book on Talking Graphics side by side with Josef Albers' Interaction of Color.

A Celebration of The Art of Design: Bill Johnson and Rolling Stone Magazine at The Arts Company

Bill Johnson's story is a Nashville story of the best talent and creativity often attracted to Nashville, ultimately adopting Nashville as his home town and bringing his outstanding artistic credentials with him.

Annie Leibowitz original photos and finished spread designed by Bill Johnson for Rolling Stone

Bill's distinguished career as a Grammy Award-winning art director for CBS Records/Nashville began first in the early heady days of Rolling Stone magazine where he began as art director when their offices were still in California. He worked with all of the big guys in music, pop culture, photography, and politics featured in the magazine in the 1970's; redesigned the original magazine logo to the one still in use today; and went along with the move of the offices from California to NYC. He enlisted artists and photographers such as Annie Leibowitz and Andy Warhol to work with the trend-setting magazine.

In the 1980's in NYC, Bill became art director for CBS Records, eventually coming to CBS Nashville, where many of his album covers won Grammy Awards.

Chakra Series: Green/Blue

Some five years ago, Bill joined The Arts Company roster of artists with his own original artwork, rendering subjects of interest to him in the characteristic clean, exacting, and bold style of his career as an art director. The gallery gravitates to presenting his work in January through spring time because his bold palette breaks through winter doldrums. His technique is accomplished and meticulous-- suggestive of the work of Alex Katz.

Original Andy Warhol contact sheet and spread it was used for in Rolling Stone

As we celebrate the art of design at The Arts Company, we asked Bill to bring samples of his work for Rolling Stone, including vintage tear sheets with accompanying original photographs by Annie Leibowitz and Andy Warhol. The viewer will see the pre-computer processes required for magazine layouts side by side with Bill's recent paintings. It's a trip worth taking. Plus, it's lots of fun just to talk with him about some of the folks he has worked with over the years. He might even bring along some of his award-winning Nashville album covers.

A Celebration of The Art of Design: Joel Anderson and The Spirit of Nashville

Joel Anderson's design art not only speaks for itself, it speaks for Nashville. His popular series of iconic posters, The Spirit of Nashville, is an artistic success story. Over the last decade, Joel has developed a series of iconic posters that symbolize the institutions, venues, and concepts that make Nashville Nashville.


All of this he has done through the art of design, creating affordable high quality poster art that is attractive to both residents and visitors alike.


For the celebration of the art of design at The Arts Company, Joel has brought in three original composites of his poster icons that demonstrate the effectiveness of the icons he has created for Nashville. As both artist and art director, Joel has selected different artists to help create the icons that speak for Nashville. Currently, he is working with some students at Watkins School of the Arts, encouraging them to find fresh ways to speak for Nashville's sense of itself.



Joel will be available to talk with in person during First Art Saturday at The Arts Company, May 1, 6-9 pm.

Tune In This Sunday: A Note From Anne Brown

Anne Brown and John Seigenthaler on the set of "A Word on Words"

Brother Mel: A Lifetime of Making Art will be featured on John Seigenthaler's Word on Words on NPT (Channel 8) Sunday, April 11, 10:30 am, when John talks with me about who Brother Mel is and why I wrote a book about him and his artwork.

Typically, John focuses on books about politics, history, and literature, but not necessarily things artistic. However, something about Brother Mel's extraordinary life and his accomplishments as an artist elicited an enthusiastic response from him in this case.

John Seigenthaler's lifelong passion for books and words is obvious in this interview as in all the others he has hosted on NPT over the last 39 years. He greeted me full of enthusiasm for Brother Mel's story and his art. His questions, observations, and responses all indicated that he was thoroughly versed in the book and was ready to explore its subject matter in depth. Rather than being the wise sage that we all know he is, he continues to come across one on one as being a young man anxious to know more about where the writer and the book were coming from. That's part of the magic of his wisdom. It's no wonder that he has had so many viewers for this weekly program.

For me, it was a double honor - first, to be representing Brother Mel's life as an artist and a monk, and then to be seated across from one of the premier book interviewers in the country. It doesn't get any better. Tune in if you can.

Anne Brown and John Seigenthaler following the "A Word on Words" interview